Been To The Beyond
by VanguardShores
Summary: Sniper has seen things that other people have only guessed at. Things that no living person should see. Yet he has. T for horror themes.
1. The Damned

**Welcome to a very dark story of mine, suitably thought up in the late hours of the day. Honestly, I don't know what prompted this idea but I like it. I _really_ like it :P I guess the inspiration for this came from the Doodle Devil app soundtrack and two songs called "Doomsday" and "Save Me", both by a band called Globus. I recommend listening to those three before reading this.**

**I also need conformation that this fits in with the T rating. I'm not completely sure so some advice would be helpful :)**

**Edit 31.08.13: Added and removed a few sentences in the last section, hopefully it's more coherent.**

**2.09.13: Corrected a few tense issues.**

**Enjoy.**

**VanguardShores**

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Chapter 1 - The Damned

I only saw darkness before, now a small glimmer of reddish light sparked from the depths. It grew bigger and bigger, the crimson light blinding me but then I started to hear low whispers. I ca n't tell what they were saying but a sense of dread and despair filled my chest; they're tormenting me, I can feel it. I'm sucked into this bright light and all I see is anguish and torture; great burning chasms filled with horrendous creatures trying to claw their way out. I sense no danger from them, only desperation, an unimaginable need to escape this flaming purgatory. Great cries and wails of lost hope, paranoia, desperation, pain and anguish reverberated through the sweltering sulphur filled air.

Everywhere I look there are soulless creatures trying their hardest to escape their own personal dooms. It stretched on into the horizon, eternal tortures of every shape and form, decorated with strange foreboding symbols and human bones. Even these menacing markings seemed to radiant their own evil, as if they are alive. A great fireball lit up the orange sky, it never seems to rise or set, only pounding down the scorched earth and crumbling it beneath my feet. Ash and black smoke floated almost elegantly into the dry air. Almost. They were swirling around with glowing embers, clogging and choking anyone, or anything that breaths it in. Demented shrieking laughter sounded throughout the wretched land, piercing every veil of consciousness. I shrink back in ever growing panic, a dire need to find an exit. A conflict of Fight or Flight raged in my mind, and Flight won.

Suddenly I'm transported to a dark inky nether. The deep purple and silver clouds swirled and danced overhead, like paint in water. I want to call it beautiful, if not for the river of red that flowed through it. Beneath the undulating surface I see skulls bob in the blood, eyeless sockets staring out blankly into nothingness. But even so I sense a type of plead and helplessness in their expressions, subtle and utterly disturbing. Impossibly tall spires of amethyst razor rock are standing imposingly on the either side of the sanguine river. Old tarnished pictures in frames, shattered time pieces, broken rings, tattered & torn wedding dresses and other precious things are slowly twirling all around the spires. I know they must be what's left of crippled dreams, cut short by cruel circumstances. As soon as I arrive at the towers I left again, back to the planes of suffering & martyrdom. It hit me all of a sudden: these hopeless beasts in their pits of damnation were once human, a person like me.

I want to escape, I _need_ to get out of this place I can only describe as hell. Something grabs and pulls my ankle, I look down and see a clawed bony hand, gripping my flesh. Panic fills every part of my being until I saw the face of the thing that grabbed me, she seems awfully & gut wrenchingly familiar. No hair, no eyes, no lips, but I can tell it was female. Her decimated chest heaves with torment, trying to breathe in the death-bearing air as though it is oxygen.

"Help me...help me...hel-"

The sound of horrifying wheezing whispers can be heard through the crashes of tumbling stone and crushed spirits. My eyes widen. I know her! I know her voice! But before I can respond, I'm pulled through the hellish red light, and back into the unsighted void.

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"Sniper! Sniper calm down! You're safe, you're safe now! Come back, please!" Scout held on for dear life to Sniper's torso whilst restraining his flailing arms, scared of the marksman's actions. He's never seen anyone like this in his life, this completely terrified him.

He was begging Sniper to come back to him, to calm down. Sniper himself was screaming bloody murder, desperately trying to get away from...something. Despite the knife wound to his back, he was still had strength. His wiry frame and put up an incredible fight. He wasn't calming down. He needed medical care and Medic was far away, helping the team on the other side of Colfront.

"Get away! I've seen it! No no no there's nothin' there!" Sniper shrieked, threatening to tear his vocal cords. Seeing no other option, Scout frantically clasped the nearest blunt object near him, his trusty bat, and briefly conked Sniper on the head. Instantly Sniper became limp, appendages falling as though a puppeteer had cut their strings. Stunned by the new found silence Scout wrapped his arms around the unconscious sharpshooter to preserve heat, tears flowing down his cold-blushed cheeks. Kneeling in the huge pool of Sniper's blood were of little concern to Scout, as it began to solidify in the frigid weather. A morbid picture of a fallen angel and his saviour in a halo of blood.

"Sweet Jesus, what happened to you Snipes? How come didn't you die 'n' come back like the rest of us? What did'ya see?"

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**Drop a review if you'd like; I'd love to hear what you have to say :3**


	2. Safe Haven

**First of all, let me begin by saying that I'm sorry I haven't been churning chapters to this story out as often as you or I would have liked. I feel crappy about it, don't worry :/ I started a new year in college doing a couple of subjects that require coursework on time in increments, so my days have been full for the most part.**

**But luckily for you guys, I've managed to write another chapter. There's probably no polish to it whatsoever so if you could help me out and maybe point some things out that need changing, it would be most appreciated :)**

**Enjoy.**

**VanguardShores**

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Chapter 2 - Safe Haven

"So let me get zhis straight Scout. You came out of Respawn and ran toward zhe front lines. You saw blood dripping from an upper level and go up to see Herr Sniper on zhe floor not breathing and his heart is not beating. You attempted to perform CPR vizhout proper medical training, Sniper was magically resuscitated and begun to zhrash around like a mad man. You banged his head and he fell unconscious. Seems a bit far fetched, don't you zhink?"

"You think I'm lyin'? D'ya really think I'd make somethin' like that up? Why else would Snipes be layin' on the freakin' bed. I swear on my Ma's life Doc, that's what happened."

The sterile white infirmary smelled of disinfectant, bleach and dried blood, a noxious mixture that anyone would have trouble concentrating if they inhaled it. The snow-blinding winter light glowed through the icy window and glinted off the tiles too strongly to be comfortable watching. To Scout it's been stressful to say the least; he has seen a friend dead who wasn't not picked up by Respawn, he woke Sniper up only he have him almost break his arms to get away from the Bostonian. Sniper was laying on the blue-tinted infirmary bed asleep, his expression seemed pained as though someone was branding him with a hot poker. Standing beside the bed Medic had his arms crossed whilst curiously observing the Australian's intriguing facial expression. His usually sun-tanned skin bared an unhealthy ashen tinge & his eyes sported dark rings, looking eerily like a skull. Scout sat on a nearby chair with his knees pulled towards him and arms resting upon them, blankly staring past the bed's pale blue curtain and resting on Archimedes eating some crumbs.

"And you restrained his arms so he could not hurt you or himself, correct? Very dangerous to do zhat, but I guess you vere vorking in zhe heat of zhe moment." Medic carefully inspected Sniper's upper arms, gently running a thumb over a violent purplish bruise that had formed there. "It is very curious zhat he did not Respawn. I have read TF Industries medical reports about a few cases of vhere zhe patient died and brought back to life in zhe traditional vay." Scout's head perked up. "But I have to say zhat zhey vere few and far between, and zhey vere written by an internal source who vas known to be vell and truly insane, completely out of his mind." The runner's shoulders slumped and returned to staring out of the window.

"Snipes said somethin' before I knocked him out Doc. Somethin' weird."

"Oh?"

"He said I should get away, I guess from him but I dunno. 'I've seen it', he said, 'n' tha' there's 'nothin' there'. I don' know what he means by it Doc, but Ma always said tah me: when ya die, ya go to another place. Either to a place where there's eternal peace 'n' harmony, or to a place where tha damned go to suffer. I just hope that he saw nothin' at all, ya know? I don't believe in any of that religious stuff, but I just have a feelin' that you 'move on', afterwards." Medic thoughtfully scratched his chin, still looking intently at the marksman.

"I vouldn't jump to any conclusions about what Sniper did or did not experience whilst...departed. Ve will just have to vait until he wakes up I'm afraid. But zhank you for telling me zhis Scout, it might prove to be enlightening in zhe near future." Scout simply nodded in acknowledgment.

Medic shifted his weight from one leg to the other. "I zhink you should go mein Junge. Maybe get somezhing to eat and drink, perhaps talk to zhe ozhers if you feel up to it. Sniper is vell cared for now." Scout unfolded himself from the chair and stood up without hesitation, setting off for the door. He heard the doctor's voice, low and soft, behind him.

"You've never seen _real_ death before, have you Scout?"

"No Doc, I haven't."

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"D'ya fink we shold go see ow e's doin?"

"Yeah, this whole situation's got Scout shook up like a willow tree in a tornado."

"Zhe boy needed to grow up sooner or later. I would never wish 'arm upon any of moi teammates, but maybe Sniper dying was for zhe best for Scout, reminding 'im of life outside zhe Coldfront fences." Spy reasoned coldly, flicking some ash off the end of his cigarette. Pyro, Engineer & Spy were sat round a small wooden table playing Go Fish, as the fire-starter didn't know how to play poker.

"Bit harsh tah say that, but I agree, in part." Engineer quietly said with reluctance. He rearranged his already-sorted cards to avoid eye contact with Spy.

_'Here comes the retort any second now...'_

"In part? What do you mean, '_in part_'? You eizher do or you don't."

'_There it is.'_  
"Yes, I agree tha' Scout needed tah grow up, but not by Slim dyin', damn it. Goin' a mite too far, dontcha think?" Engineer raised his voice slightly, an edge to his deep bass. Pyro, caught helplessly between the two men, just stared at it's cards and contemplated if it should ask Spy for any Queen's or 7's. Secretly, the firebug agreed with Engineer, but also thought that Spy had brought up some good points. Scout needed to remember what life was like outside of Coldfront, but in a less shocking and frontal way. Pyro personally didn't really have anyone or anything in the outside world to go back to. As far as it could remember, death seemed to affect everyone around it and never to itself. This was mainly because Pyro was the one setting people and things on fire and escaping unharmed, a talent which brought it to the attention of Mann Co in the first place.

"Zhe boy is arrogant and 'as forgotten zhe true ways of zhe world. 'E 'as taken zhe Respawn system for granted and doesn't give a _le cul de rat_ about anything else." Spy pointed his cigarette accusingly at Engineer, eyes narrowed. "Trois ans et il a oublié tout ce qui est réel..." He leant back in his chair and briefly glanced upwards. Suddenly Pyro slammed it's cards down and stood up dramatically. Both Engineer and Spy flinched at the unusual behaviour from their normally quiet firebug.

"Yu bth dn't get it, d yu? Scuts obfiusly in lve wth Snper! Tht's why 'e's so shook up tht 'e died." A moment of stunned silence. Engineer's jaw hung open comically while his left hand was upturned with questioning disbelief. Spy on the other hand did well to suppress the sly smirk on his thin lips.

"Really Pyro? Is tha' the only thing ya can come up with? I mean they're friends all righ', we all are, but in tha' way? Nuh-uh, String-bean ain' nothin' like tha'. He ain' one o' them queer folk." Engineer tried to reason. He wasn't homophobic, unlike many other people in the late 60's. But he was absolutely convinced that Scout was not like that, the runner always talked about his many female conquests back in Boston. Spy inwardly thought of Scout and Sniper as a couple was hilarious, considering how different they were. The Frenchman stood up to join Pyro while fiddling with his Invisi-Watch.

"Time to find out, non?" And with that, Spy vanished in a haze of blue smoke.

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**So there we have it; what is Spy gonna do when he finds Scout? How will Sniper act when he wakes up? Did Heavy really eat all the sandviches? :P The next chapter will probably not be up for a looooong while yet, so any reviews would make me a very happy bunny :3**

**Translations:**

**German:**

**"...mein Junge." - "...my boy."**

**French:**

**"...le cul de rat..." - "...rat's ass..."**

**"Trois ans et il a oublié tout ce qui est réel.." - "Three years and he has forgotten everything that is real..."**


End file.
